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Contracting
A Contract is a kind of magical agreement between a human and a Pokemon that allows the Pokemon to share its powers with the human. Although nobody fully understands the magical processes behind it, it has been a useful tool for Pokemon in this world for as long as anyone can remember. Poke Ball A Poke Ball (of any type except Beast Ball present in the games) is created at the moment of Contract, and can be seen as a physical symbol of the Contract itself. It is indestructible to all but the parties involved in the Contract, who can easily destroy it to end the Contract if they wish. Poke Balls function as they do in the anime: they can shrink for storage, the Pokemon is vaguely aware of what is going on outside and can force themselves out. If one's chosen Pokeball has a special animation on sending a Pokemon out, it can be incorporated into the transformation sequence. Eligibility Theoretically, any human (or even any sentient living creature) and any Pokemon may form a Contract, as long as they can both agree to do so, but this would be difficult for the vast majority of pairings. Humans have varying levels of magical affinity. No one is sure how exactly this is determined, but it may be linked to genetics. Sufficiently magical humans hear Pokemon speech as legible words rather than the animal noises everyone else hears, and when Contracted can amplify the Pokemon's powers through transformation. Transformation A Contracted pair "shares" the Pokemon's powers, and as such only one of the two can use them at a time. The Pokemon can access its own powers as long as it is out of the Pokeball. The human, however, has to transform to access them. * A human can only transform when they hold their Contract Pokeball, with their partner inside. Flashy transformation sequences are optional. * When transformed, the human’s clothes are replaced by a flashy costume resembling their Pokemon, with the Poke Ball incorporated into it somehow. Their appearance may also change slightly (e.g. hair length and colour), but they will never become "part Pokemon" or grow any additional body parts. * When transformed, the two parties can communicate with each other telepathically to strategize or chat. A human magical enough to understand Pokemon speech will inevitably be more powerful when transformed than their partner alone, to the extent that it's rare to find a Pokemon who can match any magical girl in existence in raw power. This is the reason many Pokemon seek Contracts, despite their distrust for humans. The human can transform back at will at any time, and will also be forced out of their transformation if * their partner forcibly takes their powers back, * their Poke Ball is removed from the transformation outfit, or * they're knocked out and can no longer battle. Trivia * A handful of mildly magical humans can occasionally pick out staticky words in Pokemon speech; many end up as devoted conspiracy theorists.